Cabaye leaving Magpies exit talk to his agents

YOHAN CABAYE is determined to leave talk about his future in the hands of his advisors this summer when Newcastle United fear tentative interest from home and abroad could become more concrete.

With France's two wealthiest clubs, Paris St Germain and Monaco, interested in taking him back across the English channel and both Manchester United and Liverpool holding high admiration, the Magpies are braced for substantial offers.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew would prefer not to lose one of the key members of his dressing room, although he is well aware of the club's policy to cash in on players' if their valuation is met.

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After last season's frustrations, Cabaye is unlikely to command the sort of £20m fee being talked about 12 months earlier, but Newcastle would still be looking to at treble the £4.5m paid to Lille two years ago.

The 27-year-old, on duty with France ahead of games with Uruguay and Brazil, is well aware of speculation centering on where he will be next season, although he is not demanding to leave St James' Park.

Cabaye said: "For the moment I am at Newcastle, you never know what happens in football, I am here at the moment. The season is not finished as I have still two international matches, after that going on holiday can't come soon enough to clear my head of the difficult season we have just had, and I let my agents work for me.

"I have had no direct contact with anyone, maybe my agents are currently in the know. As for me, I am here, listening, I like England as well. I will need to look at the situation but you never know."

When asked directly by French TV channel Canal+ about Manchester United's situation following Sir Alex Ferguson's departure and David Moyes' appointment, the Newcastle midfielder did not hide his admiration for Old Trafford which suggested he would be interested in a switch.

He said: "I like this club (Manchester United) for a long time, I like what they do, the boss has left but they have appointed a very good successor, and he did some very good things with Everton.

"They are always well placed amongst the big clubs, for sure it could be an interesting challenge but like I said for the moment, there is nothing concrete and I am still at Newcastle."

Cabaye's second season on Tyneside was blighted by injury and poor form, a result of never really recovering from a summer helping France to a Euro 2012 quarter-final exit to Spain.

He was dogged by groin and hernia concerns after that and required surgery in December. Despite returning, he never really recaptured the sort of form which made him one of the most creative midfield talents in the top-flight in his first Premier League year.

He said: "The pains have nearly all disappeared, I no longer have the big worries that I had in the middle of the season, but I have suffered all season. After the Euros it was not easy but I hung on. For the moment it's OK and I look forward to restart from a good base next season."

Cabaye was not the only Newcastle player to struggle last season, which was reflected in the team's inability to climb away from relegation trouble until the penultimate weekend just 12 months after finishing fifth.

The former Lille man said: "I don't know why (there was such a difference) but it shows that in football that everything can be right one minute and then not the next. You have to always remain vigilant about the future. But it was a very complicated season and towards the end we were suffering.

"There was only one thing and it was to get away as quickly as possible from relegation. It is a good job that we managed to save ourselves before the last match as playing at home with the pressure of the public would have made it harder."

Cabaye also felt that preserving the place among the elite eventually helped to safeguard the reputations of Newcastle's January signings from France: Massadio Haidara, Mathieu Debuchy, Moussa Sissoko, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Yoan Gouffran.

"It would have led to some bad publicity for the French players," said Cabaye. "They arrived in numbers in January and at the beginning it worked well and then we went through a bad period. If we had been relegated it would have been very difficult and we needed to avoid it come what may.

"It was a complicated season. To pinpoint reasons for this I don't really know, it is a bit of everything. We did not particularly prepare well in pre-season; the beginning of the season, Europe and the extra matches, plus a smaller squad and a younger one.

"We encountered difficulties in playing in two competitions, also physically a lot of injuries and players were missing. We rarely managed the same starting 11 in consecutive matches, all this added to the complication."

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